


Sunshine and Shadows

by emeraldhavoc



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Sonic AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:28:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22080937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldhavoc/pseuds/emeraldhavoc
Summary: What if all the stuff about Shadow being some immortal, ageless, all powerful, lab experiment was a lie to hide his true origins? While unraveling Eggman's next plot, Shadow, Rouge, and Sonic stumble onto some interesting information.
Kudos: 21





	Sunshine and Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> UPDATE July 30, 2020  
> Heeeey so if you had read the fic's first three chapters before March, things are looking a bit different. I ended up taking a bit of time away from working on the fic (mostly because I'm lazy) and found out that there's actually an old Archie issue (#171) that had a pretty similar idea and premise to what I was going for and decided to rewrite and rework the story a bit. The overall idea and stuff is the same its just the delivery that's changed.   
> But thank you so much if you had read it before! It means the world to me!
> 
> If you have no idea what I'm talking about you can ignore this and enjoy the fic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys this is my first shot at writing a fic in a long time and my first time planning something to this scale. Please be patient with me as I figure this stuff out. I'm really looking forward to this piece and I really hope y'all like it. I only have the first couple chapters drafted rn so I don't know now long it'll end up or if I'll even have the energy to finish. My writing style is very tell and not show as well as dialog heavy since I'm used to writing script-ish stuff so I hope its not too bothersome.

Eggman’s Base

Bang! Bang! CRASH!

The door shot open. Light from the hallway poured into the dark room, casting the silhouettes of three figures across the floor.

“Doctor! If you are in here, you better come out now!” yelled Shadow.

Earlier in the day, Tails’ surveillance had detected a sudden increase in activity within Dr. Eggman’s base. While normally they would chalk it up to him preparing for the weekly attack on the town, they were on high alert. Just the day before he had been up to visit the ARK.

“Damn Shads,” Sonic sneered, leaning against the now shattered doorframe, “is that how you always enter a room?”

Shadow turned to glare at his rival. The look of anger and annoyance was just funny enough to get Sonic laughing. 

Twack! Shadow smacked the blue hedgehog in the back of the head.

“Hey, man! I was just trying to lighten the mood! You don’t have to get so riled up.” Sonic said as he tried to regain his footing.

Wanting to distance herself from the potential fight, Rouge walked past the boys and into the room. Flipping the lights revealed nothing but an empty office. No doctor, no robot guards, nothing… except some dusty belongings on Dr. Eggman’s desk.

There were a handful of dusty things laid out, file folders, loose papers, and journals. It was more of the same still in the box, which read on the side “Solana.”

“Solana?” Rouge whispered to herself. “Shadow, hun, can you come over here and look at this?”

Reluctantly, Shadow halted the charging Chaos Blast and turned away from the now relieved Sonic.

“Isn’t this the name of that city we met that handsome fella, Mephiles?” Rouge teasingly asked, pointing to the box.

“No, that was Soleanna. This says Solana, if I remember correctly, it’s a Spanish name meaning something like sunshine,” he gently wiped some of the dust off. “This looks like Gerald’s handwriting.”

As Rouge began to flip through some of the journals, Shadow dug into the box. Inside he found another journal wrapped in a faded yellow bandana. When he removed the accessory, he was shocked to find a note attached with the message ‘For Shadow, there are still many questions left unanswered. Papá’ written in the same handwriting.

“What in the wo-”

“Aww cute!” Sonic interrupted, “You call Robotnik Papá? That’s sweet!” 

While his admiration was genuine, Shadow’s face flushed, and he was once again getting ready to shut him up until they heard a TINK. From of the journal in Shadow’s hand, a small disc fell. 

As they turned to inspect the disc, the sound of feet echoed in the hall. Sonic, who ran to the doorway, looked towards the noise and said, “Yo, Tails! You guys find Egghead yet?”

“Nope,” the kit said, “it looks like Eggman ditched the place as soon as he found out we were coming. I can’t figure out where he’s headed to.”

“Tails,” called Shadow, “what can you tell us about this disc?”

He took a moment to look it over, bringing it close to his face to read the old, faded writing on the label. After thinking, Tails finally said, “This looks to be a disc for a virtual projection program, kind of like virtual chat rooms of today. I discovered the program last time we were on the ARK, while I dug through some of the old data left behind by Professor Robotnik. It seemed to be one of his own creations.”

Tails then handed the disc back to Shadow and continued, “I should be able to run it for you back in my lab. I can get a projection room all set up in no time! Although I’m not too sure what this has to do with whatever it is Dr. Eggman is planning.”

“Hmmm,” Rouge hummed as she thought, “It was here with all this old stuff, that I assume, the Doctor picked up at the ARK yesterday,” she began to collect the scattered files into the dusty box. “Whatever he’s planning, it must have to do with all of this.”

~

Tails’ Lab

It was just past noon, far too early for Sonic’s liking, and the sunlight shone through the building. There was a feeling of uncertainty in the air. While everyone was concerned with Eggman’s plans, they were also worried about Shadow. He had grown far surer of himself and became more and more accepting of his past every day, but now there was suddenly once again something for him to be unsure of.

“Here is all the paperwork and information we found in Eggman’s office,” Rouge explained to Amy as Knuckles set the heavy box down, “while we’re reviewing the disc, I’d love if you, Tails, and Knuckles went through it.”

Amy began to leaf through the papers and replied, “Sure! You really think this will tell us what Eggman is planning?”

Rouge sighed and looked over to Shadow as he spoke to Tails, “Honestly, Rosy, I’m not entirely sure, but what I do know is that Shadow won’t be able to think of much else until he finds out what’s on that disc.”

Shadow, Tails, and Sonic stood talking in front of a dark room. Peeking in, Sonic saw no windows, no furniture, and no defining features. The only thing that seemed to stand out was the reflection on the walls from the dim overhead lights. After letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, he made them out as looking similar to solar panels. 

“Are you sure this will work?” Shadow asked Tails, pulling back Sonic’s attention.

“Yes. I have run the disc and formatted the projection chamber to the correct version of Professor Robotnik’s program. Everything should run smoothly.”

Tails then held out a small device and continued, “Once you and Rouge are in there this will be our only line of communication. I can shut down the program and monitor what is happening from out here but in case of emergency, either inside or outside the room, we can talk through this.”

As Shadow took the communicator in his hands, Rouge called the trio over.

Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Rouge, Amy, and Knuckles all stood around the worktable with the pile of old, dusty paperwork and books in the center. Seeing the bandana wrapped diary that had held the disc, Shadow put down the communicator and grabbed the journal. He began to inspect the faded cloth as Rouge began laying out the plan. His mind began to drift. It almost felt like déjà vu. There was something about the bandana that felt both familiar and haunting. It was such a simple accessory, but something told him to hold onto it.

“Shadow?” Rouge’s concerned voice snapped him back.

“Uh, yeah, sounds like a plan,” he uttered, trying to hide the fact that he hadn’t heard a word since they gathered, “let’s get moving!”

He quickly turned back to the projection chamber and all Rouge could do was sigh and join him.

Tails briefed the two one last time and began plugging in the code on the control panel to get the program running. CLICK! Everything was now in order and the heavy door began to slowly shut.

“Man,” Sonic sighed, “when I got up this morning, I was really hoping I’d get to kick apart some robots, not get stuck with desk duty.”

“Ha!” chuckled Knuckles, “Same here, but if it’ll help prevent another Shadow identity crisis, I’m all for it.” As he tried to decide where to start, something caught the echidna’s eye, “Hey, this wasn’t in the box, right?”

“Shit!” Sonic exclaimed. In Knuckles’ hand was the communicator Tails had given Shadow, the only line of communication in and out of the projection chamber. In a flash, Sonic grabbed it and ran towards the room. Seeing that the door was nearly shut, he slid under before anyone could process what was happening.

BANG! CLANG!

Sonic slammed into the opposite wall of the chamber just as the heavy door locked shut.

“SONIC!” growled Shadow, “What the HELL are you doing in here!”

He held the communicator up for the two to see and said, “I think you forgot something, bud.”

Before anyone could respond, a quiet hum filled the room.

The overhead lights shut off and lights on the wall panels flickered on. The room was now emanating a faint blue light. Just as the three’s eyes began to adjust, there was another flash. 

A holographic office filled with bookshelves, plants, chairs, and a desk, seemed to rise from the floor. Looking around Sonic, Shadow, and Rouge realized they were not alone. Standing by the desk was the holographic form of Professor Gerald Robotnik.

“Hello Shadow, my boy.” The hologram said in a synthetic voice.


End file.
